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Tuesday, December 10, 2013

Hi Everyone. Help me welcome Callie Hutton, whose book, MISS MERRY'S CHRISTMAS, is currently on sale for .99 cents. It's a bargain AND a Regency. That's a terrific Christmas present. Would you please tell us a little about the story, Callie?

The Duke of Penrose is not happy with Miss Meredith
Chambers, the American governess his new wards have arrived with. He quickly
replaces her, happy to have his unwanted attraction to the unsuitable woman behind
him. Until his mother hires her as a companion.

Of course! He's not going to escape that easily!Would you share an
excerpt?

Lips twitching, but maintaining his austere demeanor, the butler opened a
large wooden door with elaborate carvings, and sniffed before announcing, “Lady
Charlotte Spencer, Lady Clare Spencer, and Miss Meredith Chambers.”

The girls clung harder, making it practically impossible for Merry to enter
the room. She dragged one limb, then the other, until she reached the massive
oak desk. Breathless from her effort, she looked up into the most arresting
brown eyes, with specks of gold, she’d ever seen. Above the eyes, sharp black
eyebrows rose almost to the hairline of wavy black hair. Below the eyes an
aristocratic nose led to sensual lips drawn into a tight line.

“Your Grace.” She puffed and attempted a clumsy curtsy.

The only sound in the room was the soft click of the door as the butler
exited. Merry waited patiently to be invited to sit. Instead, the brown eyes
kept staring at her, then leisurely slid their way down her person, and
obviously from the additional tightening of his full sensual lips, finding her
wanting.
Eventually, a long-fingered hand flicked in the direction of one of the two
leather chairs in front of his desk. “Sit.”

Merry sat abruptly, feeling like a dog panting in front of its master. The
two girls ended up on their knees on the floor, still buried in her skirts.

“Is there something wrong with the young ladies?” The deep voice rolled over
her, setting her heart to pounding.

Merry grasped the girls’ arms and attempted to pull them to their feet. They
held tighter. “No, Your Grace. They’re merely a bit anxious.”

“Indeed.”

How was it possible to put so much disapproval into one word?

After a moment, he settled back in his chair, his fingers clutching a quill
pen he tapped on the desk. “I trust you had a pleasant journey?”

With all the liquid in her mouth dried up, she merely nodded.

“I understand from my solicitors you’ve had sole charge of the girls since
their parents passed away a month ago?”

“Yes, Your Grace.” Good. She was finally able to pry her mouth open.

“And you cannot control your charges enough to insist they sit as proper
ladies?”

Heat rose to Merry’s face and anger washed through her. The arrogant arse!
“They’re confused and a bit distressed.” She bent and whispered furiously to
the girls. “Please get up, His Grace is not happy.”

“No.” Two voices piped up, muffled in her skirts.

She smiled slightly at the duke and shrugged. If possible his eyebrows rose
further, disappearing underneath the wave that rested against his forehead.

“It appears to me, Miss Chambers, that Lady Charlotte and Lady Clare have
arrived here just in time.” He pushed his chair back and stood. “I arranged for
a governess to train them in proper behavior. She will instruct the girls in
the skills necessary for a lady.” He waved his hand. “Sewing, French,
watercolors, and so forth.”

Merry stared at him, her jaw slack. Well over six feet, David, Duke of
Penrose, was a sight to behold. Every inch the lord of the manor, his coat fit
him as if it had been painted on. His white-on-white waistcoat hugged his
impressive body above well-fitting tan breeches tucked into black Hessian
boots. A snow white, intricately tied cravat was a stark contrast to his
lightly tanned skin.

Lord Penrose rested one hip on the edge of the desk, peering down at her,
his foot swinging back and forth. “I shall allow a bit of transition time for
the young ladies. You may stay on for a week or two. Then I will see you
receive a generous stipend to tide you over until you can secure another
position.”

I just finished the final edits for THE DUKE'S QUANDARY, the
second book in my Marriage Mart Mayhem regency series for Entangled. It will
be released in March. The first book in that series is THE ELUSIVE WIFE.

I'm looking forward to that next one. The series is delightful. What one tip would
you offer writers?

Read, read,read.
Write, write, write, Every day. Don’t write ‘when you have time,’ set a
schedule for yourself and stick to it. Also, read books on the craft of
writing, but even more importantly, read books in your genre to see how other
authors are putting together their stories, their character arcs, how they
handle conflict, etc.

How do your stories
‘come to you’ at first--through characters, setting, story line?

I would say story line and setting come first. Then I pick
the characters that would fit that story. Sometimes if I have a particular
character personality in mind, I’ll form the story around him/her. That’s what
happened with THE DUKE'S QUANDARY. My heroine is a clumsy scientist who has no
desire to have a Season in London, but when she’s forced to do that, trouble
follows. When I thought of that character, the story sort of unfolded.

Do you have challenges with finding
writing time?

Never. I consider writing my ‘job’ that I go to every day
for 5-6 hours. Even when I was still working (I write full time now), I made
sure my schedule for work didn’t interfere with my writing.

Very smart. If we want to write, we have to take it and ourselves seriously. How did you get into writing?

I’ve been making up stories since
elementary school, and writing gave me a way to turn off the voices in my head.
After having a number of articles and interviews published in newspapers and
magazines, I took on what I’d always dreamed of. Writing that book. I currently
have a number of both historical and contemporary romance books published.

I currently live in Oklahoma with my husband and adult children who move in and
out with alarming regularity. Add three rescue dogs and the household is
complete—and full. I enjoy hearing from my readers, and would love to have you
visit me on Facebook.

Very best of luck with this latest release, Callie. I'm now off to get it! Thanks so much for visiting. I hope you’ll come back again. Now---Where can we find you online?